would appreciate help!

[Guest]

i forgot my login information, and i haven't written in a while, but i have been reading all of your posts regularly and you have all been in my prayers. thank you for all of your support. it's been a blessing to find this website.

i was wondering if anyone had a similar experience to what my mother has been going through. she has had several periods of time when her temperature is above 100 (between 100-101 degrees f), especially a few weeks after chemo. she was given antibiotics the first time, and they didn't work, so she was given another type, and those seemed to work after a while. then a month later, her temperature went up again without notice and she was hospitalized for ten days. during this time, the doctors couldn't figure out if she had an infection and where it was. they gave her antibiotics again, but they never really knew what was going on (she had her onco, a pulmanary spec., and a infectionary spec. all collaborating). her temperature went down again, but a month later (now), it is back up. we went to the hospital and stayed overnight yesterday, but the doctor (not her regular onco, but another one that was on-call for my mother's regular onco) looked at all the info and said that he thinks that she may have atalectisis (i don't know the spelling...does anyone have any info?) because her white blood cell counts have been high, and all the tests have shown no signs of infection (i.e. she had water drained from her lung, and the tests showed no signs of infection...in fact, she had water drained from her lung although she didn't experience any breathing difficulties because the docs thought that the infection would show up). i think the doc was really surprised that my mother had received antibiotics the first time because her white blood count was high (and he said that infections usually show up when the count is dangerously low). she doesn't really have any pain except that she has a slight headache when her fever is up again. otherwise, she eats well and doesn't really feel nauseous.

i feel like i'm on a constant rollercoaster. due to the fevers, her chemo schedule has not been on track (according to the doc's plans). she has had to have her treatments delayed by 1-2 weeks each time (she's has three treatments, and she is supposed to have her 4th treatment this wednesday). i'm sorry for the lengthy email, but i feel the need to vent a bit. thanks for your support and prayers in advance. if anyone has any info, i would be really grateful.

-mj

[john]

Don't really know or have expereience but here is some info ...

Atelectasis - is a lung that doesnt inflate fully. It can be caused by a mucus plug. I had a lung x-ray a while ago and the doctor said I had a slight atelectasis - probably from mucus. The article says it can also be caused by pleural effusion.

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic180.htm

info on fever and cancer - it is good her wbc is not low.

http://rope.nworcc.on.ca/fever.asp

" ... Even though common solid tumors of the breast, lung, and colon are rarely associated with tumor-induced fevers, the presence of liver metastases from these or other solid tumors may result in fever. In addition, any solid tumor causing obstruction can result in fever.

The exact mechanism of tumor-associated fevers is unclear. Several theories exist, including the release of pyrogens or toxins by tumors, obstruction of secretory functions by tumor cells, or a hypersensitivity reaction response to tumors that activates other body cells to release pyrogens.[1] "